Cobaltchat.com

I am replacing my steering wheel but may need an adapter. Anyone know if the steering shaft on a 2001 226 is splined or tapered and any other pertinent information? Thanks.

Sorry, wrong boat in the picture. Obviously not a 226.

Here is the right one.

You didn't buy one with the center hub anyway in it? I believe it's tapered with a key way in it.

Thanks very much. I just bought an adapter that mates to a tapered shaft with a key way for $20 + shipping. I'm pretty sure it will work. My boat is stored in a dry stack 40 mins away or I would just remove the old wheel and look. I have to put it in the water to do the work so I'm trying to be sure I have everything I need to do the job before I make the drive and pull the wheel off. Again, thanks for your help. Cheers!

Lake Loon wrote: Tue Sep 01, 2020 9:51 pm Thanks very much. I just bought an adapter that mates to a tapered shaft with a key way for $20 + shipping. I'm pretty sure it will work. My boat is stored in a dry stack 40 mins away or I would just remove the old wheel and look. I have to put it in the water to do the work so I'm trying to be sure I have everything I need to do the job before I make the drive and pull the wheel off. Again, thanks for your help. Cheers!

Yep bring a hammer you may need it to get it off.

The steering shaft should be a 3/4" locking tapered shaft. The hub adapter should have a 3/4" hole with 3 keways cut into it. There is a woodruff key on the old wheel that you will reuse on one of the three keways.

There is a large locking nut and washer which secures the steering wheel also. Here is a thread about steering wheel removal.

viewtopic.php?f=44&t=2341

Some owners use penetrating oil and pull the wheel while hammering on the shaft with the nut loosened to protect the threads. Did not work for me and I did some thread damage that Zi had to rethread. The steering wheel can be very difficult to remove.

My advice is to buy a sturdy three arm puller from the local auto parts store if the wheel does not come off with a little hammering. This worked very well and will not damage the threads. Good Luck

ggcline wrote: Wed Sep 02, 2020 8:23 pm
My advice is to buy a sturdy three arm puller from the local auto parts store if the wheel does not come off with a little hammering. This worked very well and will not damage the threads. Good Luck

.
Yes not a big hammer fan in that area. It can be done but it makes me wince. Love those pullers though. They’ve saved me more than a few times over the years on various projects.


.

Awesome! Thanks so much. I'll get a puller today and have a go at it.

You can always zip tie the new wheel on top of the old one. No one will ever notice!!

Hahaha. It may come to that.

OK, so here's the end of the story. After buying an adapter, gear puller and penetrating oil to replace the old steering wheel it turned out all I needed was a Philips head screw driver, an allen wrench and less than 5 minutes. Go figure.

The next project is to replace the instrument panels. Cheers.

Lake Loon wrote: Wed Sep 09, 2020 3:17 pm OK, so here's the end of the story. After buying an adapter, gear puller and penetrating oil to replace the old steering wheel it turned out all I needed was a Philips head screw driver, an allen wrench and less than 5 minutes. Go figure.

The next project is to replace the instrument panels. Cheers.

Well yea
It's obvious

I really do love this boat!

I can see why , it looks great